Mix of emotions for young family who lost everything in Pritchard house fire

PRITCHARD, B.C. — It’s been a rollercoaster ride of emotions for one Pritchard family who brought their new baby home only to lose that home to fire the very next night.

Less than two days after bringing baby Isla home from the hospital, Cortnal Kennedy-Gibson and his partner Sara Christie woke to the ringing of their fire alarm and their home filling with smoke.

“I run downstairs and I just see smoke billowing out from the floor,” Kennedy-Gibson said, describing last Thursday night’s fire. “I tried to fight it – throw some water. I didn’t know what to do. I got her [Sara, his partner] and the kids out and I ran in for the dog and it just started filling with smoke.”

Fortunately, the family and their dog got out safely, but their cats and the contents of their house were lost in the fire.

Because they are without renters’ insurance, a family friend set up a GoFundMe campaign to help get the family back on its feet. In less than a week, the page surpassed its $10,000 goal.

“It’s been, it’s overwhelming, the kindness that we’ve received,” Kennedy-Gibson said.

Thanks to the generosity of the community, the family says they are able to start over.

“I was expecting like maybe a little bit of baby clothes, and one or two things for us. [I] was not expecting this much, for sure,” Christie told CFJC News.

As of Wednesday evening, the fundraising page had made more than $13,000 from 140 donors.

But the community support didn’t stop there. Kennedy-Gibson said donations of everything from baby clothes to furniture have been dropped off for them.

“Like so many people, random strangers– dropping off so much stuff, helping us out,” Kennedy-Gibson said. “It’s been from a high of having your second kid to the low of losing everything you have, to the community coming in and helping you – it’s a mix of emotions.”

The next steps for the family are finding a new home to rent and giving back to the community that helped them get back on their feet.